Who's up and who's down this week?

Tenant power! Barber, as president of the Citywide Council of Presidents living in New York City public housing, sued NYCHA in February for a laundry list of failings. Instead of getting his case mucked up in the courts for years like you might expect, a Manhattan judge granted the tenants an early win, ordering NYCHA to start up lead paint inspections, ASAP. City lawyers claimed the tenants don’t have standing? NYCHA, please. Take a seat.

Lobbying spending declined somewhat in Albany in 2017, but that’s not much a problem when you’re the lobbyist raking in more revenue than anyone else in the state Capitol. Kasirer’s powerhouse lobbying firm landed at the top of the heap for the second year in a row, according to a report out from JCOPE this week, with the firm’s revenues going from $10.4 million in 2016 to $11.5 million in 2017.

The sun never sets on Cynthia’s good press, it seems, with the latest free plug coming from Stephen Colbert, who offered some “ointment for that burn” after she said she’d rather be “the good Nixon than the bad Cuomo.” Oh, and Nixon got the Working Families Party endorsement and her stock is rising in the polls. She’s got a long way to go, but it looks like a promising start for the former “Sex and the City” star.

The airline pilot found herself in a situation this week that no one ever wants to confront: an engine explosion mid-flight. The blast shattered a window and killed one passenger, but the former fighter pilot’s calm response ensured everyone else on board would survive. Shults kept her wits about her as she steered the Southwest Airlines flight, which took off from LaGuardia Airport, to Philadelphia, where she made an emergency landing.

The New York Times and New Yorker journalists won the Pulitzer Public Service Award for exposing sexual harassment and powerful sexual predators in various industries, which started with Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and his secret settlements. The 21 written pieces and one podcast episode that received the prize motivated multiple online campaigns, protests in major entertainment award ceremonies, national and international movements criticizing the silencing of victims, exposing sexual assault and calling for change.

The WFP’s endorsement of Cynthia Nixon may have been a win for the candidate, but maybe not so much for the party itself. Sure, they’ve backed the person they think is best for the job, but at a price. Three more unions left the Working Families Party over the decision to endorse the “Sex and the City” actress. And the spurned Gov. Andrew Cuomo is allegedly threatening the state funding of activist groups affiliated with the party in retaliation. Cuomo, of course, denied this, instead suggesting that any punishment of the WFP should be left to God.

Last year, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio figured he had put the allegations of campaign finance violations behind him when prosecutors announced they didn’t have enough evidence to bring any charges against him or his associates. But well into 2018, stories are trickling out about former backers accused of breaking the rules to give the mayor more cash than they’re allowed to. While still unproven, the latest such tale is of Ahmad, a Queens construction exec who was indicted for allegedly using straw donations to pump campaign cash into the mayor’s coffers.

Last fall, The New York Times Magazine published a story with the headline: “How Far Will Sean Hannity Go?”  The American public got at least a partial answer to that question this week when it was divulged in court that the Fox News host – whether he’s actually a journalist or not is another good question – has been a client of Michael Cohen, the embattled lawyer to President Donald Trump. Hannity disputed the characterization, but as a lawyer had argued, it’s the kind of disclosure that would “embarrass” the mystery client.  

Double trouble. These twin brothers have been living large while the homeless clients they are meant to serve live in squalor. The pair already make a whopping $240,000 running LCG Community Services. But duo also paid millions to their for-profit firm Razzal Hospitality and Management, which (poorly) manages many of the buildings where LCG places homeless families. While those families dealt with poor living conditions and evictions, the Lazar twins got rich off their suffering. That’s never a good look.

You know you did something wrong when a Nazi collaborator gets to keep his name in the Canyon of Heroes, but you’re getting kicked out of Central Park. The “father of gynecology” had his statue’s perch downgraded from Central Park this week following protests that decried Sims’ involuntary experiments on female slaves without anesthesia. Going forward, Sims’ likeness was to be conveniently located at his grave across the East River, but now Brooklynites are also telling him: Over my dead body!